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We’re seeing a positive trend in the spreading of information about breeding practices and how they are impacting the health and welfare of dogs.

The latest entry is from Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post. It is well worth the read. She goes into everything from line breeding inbreeding to the horrible breeding that has deformed the English Bulldog, leading to the risk of breathing problems.

And Boboltz these dogs can’t swim and the puppies have to be delivered by delivered by cesarian section.

Dr. Louise Murray, vice president of the ASPCA Animal Hospital, is quoted as saying the dog breeds we see today are “human constructs,” meaning they are on the unnatural side. I’ve called it forced evolution.

Read most any article about proposed anti-puppy mill legislation and underneath you will most likely find comments from those opposed to improved protections for animals.

Or the letters to the editor section will feature this sort of drivel or you can find it on some organization’s website.

Of late, those fighting against better regulations are crying foul over two bills in the North Carolina General Assembly. The crying has pushed a few state senators to block HB930. So NC Governor Pat McCrory is trying to push through anther plan, as part of his proposed budget (SB842), to transfer enforcement of such laws from the Department of Agriculture to the law enforcement arm of the state.

It makes sense, but we also need the better regulations so that law enforcement officials state wide will have the tools they need to combat puppy mills and all forms of animal cruelty.

(I will post more details on these sections of SB842 very soon.)

Some individuals are claiming North Carolina doesn’t have a puppy mill problem. This is just insane. With the state’s lack of regulations, puppy mill operations are hiding in the shadows and they know the odds of being uncovered are slim.

And the propaganda is flying, suggesting people’s right to have pets is being attacked and the right to breed dogs or cats is being attacked. The reality is the only entities being regulated are puppy mills.

Those who can’t practice within the minimum guidelines being proposed should never be allowed to breed animals – period.

And of course this other side keeps spreading the notion that a definition of the phrase ‘puppy mill’ does not exist. This one is one of the most extreme cases of propaganda floating around.

Puppy mills and kitten mills are substandard breeding operations where the dogs or cats live 24/7 or a vast majority of every day locked in small cages, in unsanitary conditions. The animals rarely to never are allowed time to play or even walk around for exercise and rarely to never are given veterinary care or proper food and water.

Another area where the propaganda slides far from reality is the suggestion that breeders would never mistreat or neglect dogs, as they know it would hurt their chances of selling the puppies.

As we’ve seen in every puppy-mill bust ever – this isn’t true. As long as these mass-production operations can sell the puppies to the unsuspecting segment of the population, they care very little about what happens later with the health of the puppies or about the suffering of the parent dogs.

This is happening all over the country right now. This notion that breeders can’t mistreat their dogs because it would cut into sales is millions of miles off Reality Road.

And then we have the attacks on the Humane Society of the US and the ASPCA. This effort is ONLY designed to push the debate away from the suffering of the dogs and cats trapped in mills. We can’t let the puppy mill supporters get away with it.

It happens constantly. An article or column or blog post reports on an undercover video showing abusive acts inflicted on animals or reports on legislative efforts supported by animal-welfare groups – and the attacks follow in the comment section.

People crawl out to slam PETA, the Humane Society of the US, the ASPCA or whatever group might have taken the video or pushed for the protection of innocent animals.

It’s time to call it what it is – pure propaganda in an effort to divert the reader’s attention from the effort to protect animals from abuse.

Every time an HSUS representative is quoted in an article about an anti-puppy mill bill, the propagandists slam the organization with wild accusations that show the person commenting is clueless to what the mission of the group really is.

New York has new regulations to combat puppy mills, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law on Friday. The primary factors in the law are the ability for local municipalities to regulate breeders and enact stronger regulations.

“The puppy mill industry wanted to keep the state law unchanged because it allowed maximum profit and minimum accountability,” says Matt Bershadker, ASPCA President and CEO. “With this law, we’ll be able to keep a closer eye on these operations, stop inhumane practices, and undoubtedly save many lives. For New Yorkers and animal lovers—and animals themselves—this is a huge and important win.”

The Humane Society of the United States calls the move “groundbreaking.”

My answer? – Of course; absolutely; with a doubt. After all, compassion was a primary focus for Jesus. From the Bible to Saint Francis of Assisi to most recently, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we’ve seen a long history of compassion for animals from Christianity.

In addition, studies are showing those who engage in animal cruelty also end up abusing people.

There is one key statement in Stetzer’s piece that I take a bit of exception to:

Furthermore, the radicalization of the animal rights movements has, I think, scared away many Christian leaders. Yet, as the video shows, that’s not always been the case.

This is misconception that too many people are stepping into. Sure, some groups have ramped up the actions in protesting animal cruelty. But this does not change the fact that animals are being abuse in horrible ways all over the country and the planet.

I’m not at all accusing Stetzer here, but the phrase “animal rights movement” usually comes from the crowd who wants to shut down any progress in protecting animals from cruelty. These folks hate on groups like the Humane Society of the US or the ASPCA, in an effort to discredit anyone who wants to protect animals from abuse.

And in so many cases, the effort comes from those with a monetary stake in defending industries from any regulations.

But I should focus back on Stetzer’s main theme. Yes – Christians and those from all religious affiliations should care about animal welfare. Compassion should be a primary focus of all religions. And compassion should not have a such a narrow focus that it is limited to one species.

Who could reasonably state, on religious grounds or by any standards, that we should not care about the suffering of innocent people and animals? Of course we should care.

The ASPCA video below tells the story of Zack, a little dog the organization rescued from a Michigan puppy mill earlier this year. Zack was very afraid and it took some time and compassionate contact to allow him to understand that not all people are evil.

I will be writing very soon about some new research being reported, which offers further scientific proof that animals did experience emotions. Stay tuned.

But there really are no doubts remaining on this topic. Animals like dogs, cats, pigs, horses, elephants, monkeys and many, many more do experience emotion. Anyone who denies this fact – from scientists or others – is simply WRONG.

Zack’s video clearly shows his emotions. Now some on the other side would claim I am wrong because I am basing my findings purely on observation. – WRONG. This would be like telling an emergency room doctor he was incorrect because he was basing his conclusion that a patient had been shot by merely observing the wound.

Or would these same folks on the other side suggest we needed to toss out any mental health care for trouble people because doctors could only base a diagnosis on observations and what the patient was telling them? WRONG.

We really do know that animals experience emotion and can therefore suffer both physically and emotionally and can on the other end, experience happiness and joy. We see the positive end of the emotional spectrum when we come home to great our pets.

So it’s time to put what we know as facts to work and ramp up animal-cruelty laws across the nation and across the planet, to better protect animals from abuse.

Again, stay tuned to the blog for much more on this topic. Thank you for reading.

For a long, long time, any logical or moral defense of greyhound racing has been non-existent. And as more news comes pouring out of the industry – in the United States and overseas – the evidence that should lead to a complete shutdown of dog racing is abundantly clear.

The situation in West Virginia only adds to the evidence. Thanks to the work of GREY2K USA, a new report on dog racing in the state is getting out to the public. From 2008 through June of 2013, 289 greyhounds lost their lives due to injuries or other issues at two tracks. And of course, this does not account for the dogs who simply failed at racing. What happened to those who never made it to rescue groups?

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which partially funded the reported, also deserves a ton of credit for exposing this industry for what it is.

Back on the two tracks, nearly 4,800 injuries were suffered from 2008 to June of this year. Over the five-and-a-half year span, over 1,400 greyhounds suffered injuries that ended their so-called “careers.”

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I think U.S. Attorney George Beck has struck the key note, in terms of the criminal element in our society. In the first paragraph of an article on the DothanEagle.com site, about a huge dog-fighting raid, Beck was paraphrased as saying he, “thinks there are two types of people in hell – those who are cruel to children and those who are cruel to animals.”

The article reports the raid and rescue of 367 pit bulls was a joint effort from the Auburn Police Division out of Alabama, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, other local law enforcement agencies, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States.

Ten individuals were arrested and the search is on for three more. They should be charged as terrorists. The dogs were living in what was described as being “horrendous” conditions. They were chained and malnourished.Continue reading →